Balthier and Azzurra had spent their time in Fenmyre more secluded and quiet, but they all had their part. He could tell Azzie was getting stronger, she wasn't as weak as she was when they lived in Abaven. Somehow he felt this sense of possession removing from her, and it had honestly frightened him a little bit. He never knew her feelings or doubts around the darker part of their relationship, but he just kept moving on from it like nothing was wrong. Nothing could be... He wanted to be stable for her unlike their parents were.

He had finished a patrol when he came back to their bungalow and she wasn't there which made him have this weird tension in him. Like she should have been there. So he went out to go find her, slowly tracking where she had been.

He had seen her trotting along the shorelines where he eventually caught up with her in spoke in a half humorous tone, "Mind if I join you?"

"Azzurra & Balthier"

Azzurra panted lightly as she trotted across the sandy beaches of the island, taking her usual path for her nearly daily run. There were still occasionally some days when she had to make herself rest or take it easy simply because her body wouldn't allow her to do anything else, but those days were becoming far fewer than they had once been and that fact alone was something she was very proud of. There was an ingrained fear that she might accidentally push herself too far, make herself sick, or hurt herself so every time she went out to train or exercise it was something she had to overcome, but every day was getting a little easier and she was getting stronger. She thought about the trip she made out to the fjord by herself while she ran, thinking about the time she spent with Satira, a small smile pulling at her lips at the thought.

Her imaginings were interrupted though when her brother appeared beside her, making her blink with surprise and slow her steps slightly as she looked up at him. When he asked to join her she gave a small nod and smiled. Her reply was a bit breathless as she told him, "Sure, why not?" She had gotten used to spending a good majority of her days alone doing things like this or other kinds of training and learning, but she couldn't really deny her brother's presence if he wanted to spend time with her after his patrols. She had been a bit more hesitant about spending time with him since they reached their second birthdays and she found herself in her first heat, but how could she tell him to stay away? They had spent nearly every day together since they were born. She couldn't just make him move out of their bungalow for a season.

"Azzurra & Balthier"

He couldn't help this sense of... awkwardness? They had worked through problems or at least pushed them aside. But it seemed like as their lives went on, there was some sort of hidden tension between them. Not just Azzurra, but Balthier too. He could feel it. He tried to refuse acknowledging it. That was nothing new for him.

He went to move forward alongside his sister as she broke from the run for a bit of time. Their second year had festered different emotions, ones that Balthier had really never experienced before. He had shown Azzurra love, he had found comfort and relief in where their relationship had led them. But now that she was in heat, and he had truly reached his own sexually maturity, everything was different. It was like there was something locked inside him beating the walls and screaming to come out. Some sort of primal instinct for who he had shared his entire life with. It was hard to be around her.

His eyes were closed as they walked forward, calming himself from the smell of her perfume, and in an instant went to move on with conversation. Or more worry. "You're not pushing yourself too hard, are you?" He was more controlling than he realized, that or obsessive. But he was always worried about her.

"Azzurra & Balthier"

She kept moving, now with Balthier at her side, though slightly slower and not as determinedly as before. She imagined he'd probably want to talk or something as they went and if that was the case she'd need to cool off a bit so she wouldn't be struggling to speak so much. Luckily for at least a little bit he was pretty quiet and it gave her a chance to catch her breath. She kept her gaze on the path ahead of her so she didn't notice how he had to close his eyes for a moment to calm himself as they walked. She really had no idea what to expect when it came to being in heat before it happened since their mother hadn't been around to tell her. She knew it was a thing that happened to females around their birthdays and that was the time that females could get pregnant, but that was about where her knowledge ended. She had been completely unprepared for how it was going to make her feel, for what it was going to make her want, and how it was going to make Balthier react to her.

Her mismatched ears perked a bit when he spoke and she brought her sapphire gaze up to his when he asked her about pushing herself too hard. "No, I'm okay," she insisted, giving him a reassuring smile. Yes, she was pushing herself harder than she had before and yes, that was tiring, but she was starting to learn that she needed that. She wasn't going to make or see any progress if she didn't really try. She was conflicted about the whole thing usually since she didn't necessarily need to get better with Balthier to take care of her and the pack to fall back on, but she wanted it and that was a new development for her. "It's just some runs around the island, nothing all that strenuous," she promised, trying to alleviate some of his worries.

"Azzurra & Balthier"

He really bit his tongue at her response. His sense of worry, if only a little bit, was already out there. But he really wanted to stop her, pull her aside, and tell her she didn't need to keep doing what she was doing. There was no need for her to keep running and building up her strength. But he also found it in him to give her that freedom with this life she was given after she recovered from her young illness. He had wanted to take her all over the world and let her experience everything, with him. He also wanted the protection of the pack for her. And it seemed keeping her safe was greater than his own dreams. They were both his dreams though. As long as Azzie was truly happy...

His paw reached up to lightly grab around one of Azzurra's to get her to stop. His head tilted curiously as he asked, "Would you like to go for a swim then?" The warming weather of Auster along with the energy taken from her run, it seemed like a good opportunity to do something a little different together than sleep inside their den.

"Azzurra & Balthier"

He didn't really reply right away so she thought maybe he had just let it go, but then he stopped her with his paw around her ankle and instead asked if she wanted to go swimming instead of continuing their walk. She glanced down at where his dark paw was curled around her pale limb before bringing her sapphire gaze back up to his and offered him a soft smile. "Yeah, that sounds good," she replied after a beat even though some strangely defiant part of her almost told him no, that she wanted to finish her run. She decided quickly though that she didn't really want to push her luck and she hadn't really spent any time with him recently except for at night when they went to bed. She still loved her brother and had she not wished for their relationship to go back to what it once was?

She let him lead the way to one of the many swimming options around the island. Between the ocean that surrounded them and the various pools and streams that cut through the island itself there was pretty much every kind of body of water that they could imagine here—except maybe a waterfall. She waded into the water, actually a bit relieved to be off her paws for a little while. Her muscles were pretty much always sore since she had started from nothing with her exercising so it was kind of nice to just float around for a little bit. She turned toward him once she was at a spot where her paws just lightly grazed the bottom and she gave him a little grin as she splashed some water toward him with one of her pale paws, giggling playfully.

"Azzurra & Balthier"

Balthier led her to one of the pools inside the island, only watching as she took the first few steps in. He nearly blushed as he watched her, it could have been from their maturities coming on their second year but no. Balthier really did see his sister as beautiful and attractive, it didn't matter if they were in their den, in the water, or anywhere else. He truly did love and care for her.

He huffed a quiet chuckle as she splashed some water at him, following in slowly as the water was only a bit cool but mostly warm from their tropical atmosphere. Once he was in enough, he too splashed a little water up at her with his paw before wading forward and going to grasp around her shoulders and back under the water. He pulled he into him, so that she was floating on her back but supported by him and placed between his chest and groin. Their muzzles so close to each other but yet he held back. His gaze though still showed that love and desire for her, though with them under the water he wasn't so tempted by her heat. His paws carefully rolled her so that her back was facing him and his paw was wrapped under the very center of her ribs. He made sure her paws could reach the bottom of the pool before he let her go, dunking himself under the water to fully cover his pelt in the bath and shaking lightly as his head came back over the surface.

"Azzurra & Balthier"

Azzurra giggled softly as Balthier returned the splash toward her, ducking her head away and blinking some water away from her eyes. The water did feel nice as she lightly floated with her paws barely touching the bottom, enjoying the way it took the pressure off of her sore muscles and soothed them. She didn't try to pull away when Balthier moved toward her and wrapped her in his embrace, lifting her in the water so that she was on her back, leaning into his chest. There was always some kind of nervousness or trepidation in the back of her mind when she was against him like this, but there was a pull and a desire as well. Her own instincts constantly betrayed her logic and clouded her thoughts, especially when their lips were so nearly touching like this. She was fully expecting him to act on the opportunity he provided himself, but instead he moved her again so that she could be on her paws once more before he shifted away and ducked under the water for a moment.

She sighed softly in the brief moment before he popped back to the surface with a shake of his head. It felt like a constant battle right now of being in heat and her body wanting certain things and her mind and her knowledge of how things were holding her back. It would be so much easier if she wasn't actually attracted to Balthier or if she didn't actually love him the way she did, but that wasn't the case and it made things all the more confusing and difficult. She gave him a smile once his gaze met hers again and for a moment she debated what she should do. Two different parts of herself tore her one way and another until finally she forced herself to swim away further into the pool in an attempt to clear her head a bit, mostly just floating as she lightly paddled through the water.

"Azzurra & Balthier"

Balthier had kept his gaze away from her for a short time as she smiled at him before swimming further into the pool. Balthier had been struggling with her since she came in season, very simply with the chance of her becoming pregnant. But it was also extremely hard to be around her because of what the heat did to him. At night he was able to force the physical urges away though maybe not so physically. He wanted to be with her more now than ever, but it wasn't speaking from his heart.

He took only a moment as she swam further into the pool, ready to let what was bothering her be ignored as he always had. It was better that way he thought. Like if they didn't know then there was no problem. He had this fake facade or image about how perfect their life was together while their parents had been a complete wreck. Maybe they still had it better, but nothing could be perfect.

In the end he followed after her, slowly padding through the deeper waters. The water made it easier for her scent not to cloud his thoughts. "Are you alright?" He asked quietly and genuinely, but he was scared that she would say she wasn't.

"Azzurra & Balthier"

The water was cooling and relaxing as she floated and tried to let her thoughts clear. She wasn't very successful at that, not that she ever was, but she did try. She tried to remind herself of all of the things that were right and positive in their lives. They lived in a pack they liked on this beautiful island, all of their basic needs of food and shelter were easily met here, and health wise she had never been better. They had each other and they had really been the only constants in either of their lives for as long as she could remember. If there was so much going right and so much to be grateful for, why could she only think about the things that made her uncomfortable or didn't sit right with her? On one side of things she wished that she could just look past those things so that she could be happy the way she had been back when she was still naive about the way things were. On the other side she wished she was actually brave enough to do something about it instead of just following along while Balthier pretended everything was fine.

As she slowly drifted away, she heard a soft swish through the water and in a moment Balthier was swimming up beside her. She slowed till she was mostly just wading water so that she could look at him as he spoke and asked her if she was alright. Immediately a small smile fell into place on her lips. The pretending and the hiding came second nature now while she did anything to alleviate his concerns so that he wouldn't have to see her own. Every time they fought or had some sort of disagreement it felt like her whole world would slip away with nothing else there to catch her so she avoided it no matter how much that voice in the back of her mind was screaming for her to tell him. Yeah, I'm alright. Just... You know... Stuff with hormones and my heat and stuff," she insisted, waving off anything he might have noticed. Maybe if she could at least have some kind of relief form the physical, primal desires then it would at least clear one foggy part of her mind, but the possibilities and consequences of that right now made her too nervous to give in to it.

"Azzurra & Balthier"

Their conversation wasn't necessarily heartfelt while Azzurra tried to brush it off, but Balthier didn't feel any differently to her needs. They had been through struggles, and if that was still lingering around them he chose to ignore it. Maybe he knew he was doing it, but he wouldn't allow their life that had been so rough at the start to seem anything but perfect. At least in his own head, and he would have hoped Azzurra was just as happy too.

He waited a moment before he would move forward again after she responded, his paws again slow and gentle to grab around her shoulders. His back paws were barely down on the surface under the water, but he still pulled her around gently through the water to keep her close to him. "It's hard for me too Azzie." It was in no way to one up her, but for once he was being more honest with his emotions than keeping them locked away somewhere. "I feel different, I'm scared I'm going to hurt you. I'm scared of you getting pregnant." It was maybe more blunt than intended, and who knew the likely hood of his sister actually having his babies. He didn't want to risk that. He was very clearly not ready to be a father but it more edged on the nature of their relationship. What would the babies end up being like, what would Solo and Psalm think if they found out one day. His ego would hurt from either side of it.

"Azzurra & Balthier"