Alastor had been on Ikigai's mind for quite some time. The big man had done wonders for her and had shown that she was important to him. Ikigai, ever articulate and well spoken, couldn't put into words just how much that meant to her. She could show him, however. Iki had begun to work on a gift for the man during the end of her mourning period. The woman still had to heal from her miscarriage and broken ribs, so she kept herself busy with crafting. Thanks to her nimble digits, Ikigai was able to create something that very few others were capable of. It took time, but once she was done, the woman packaged the gift well and went to seek out the receiver.

With the handle of the package between pristine white teeth, the Ashen princess approached the den of Manea and Alastor. Iki scratched at the door, but there was no answer. With a little frown, she took the gift in her maw once more and made her way down the mountain where she then sat at the mouth of the pathway that led upwards. Once there, the soot and snow woman seated herself, curling her long, ink brush of a tail around her body. She was content to wait for Alastors return, as long as that took.

"Speech"

Alastor dropped his kills off at the pack's larders to be skinned and prepped later. He had spent his morning hunting two sizable does on the mainland, enjoying the mild spring morning to himself while Manea and Avacyn went through the processes of transitioning power over to their daughter. It still felt strange to the dire brute that his little girl was all grown up and getting ready to lead the back that he and Manea had formed what felt like only yesterday. It was so hard to believe two years had passed already, yet here they were. With his spoils deposited and his coat mucky with some congealing blood from carrying his quarry back home, the ebon-furred brute made his way back towards his den with the intention of gathering up some grooming supplies to clean himself off before Manea saw him and fussed.

Approaching the mountain path though, Alastor was surprised to find an almost statuesque Ikigai sentinel at the base of the trail, a package clutched carefully in her dainty muzzle. She looked like she was made of alabaster, her coat pristine and body motionless. How she managed to keep herself so perfectly composed was incredible to the demon wolf. Approaching the path, Alastor regarded Ikigai with a crooked grin and amused eyes. "Careful. You'll make sculptures jealous of your beauty and stillness, Lady Abraxas," he teased her with a playful chuckle as he stepped up to her, moving towards the path up the mountain. "If you're waiting on Manea, you're more than welcome to come up and wait in our den. You're virtually family by now anyway!"

"Alastor Mendacium"

Dark ears flicked forward as the sound of heavy paws on the path ahead caught Ikigai's attention. Alastor turned the corner and the woman's marbled gaze lifted in a smile. His words were met with a shake of her head, but her mouth was full of his gift, so she simply rose and followed him upwards towards the home that he shared with Manea. Alastor was always so loving and caring when it came to her. Had someone told her about the other side of his personality, she would have had a difficult time believing them.

Once they were within the den, Iki seated herself somewhat near the doorway, not wanting to intrude while Alastor got cleaned up, which she assumed he'd be doing. Taking the wrapped gift in paw, Ikigai took a deep breath, filling her lung with air before exhaling slowly. As Alastor moved past her, the woman reached out and stopped him with one delicate paw. "I actually came to see you," she admitted in her soft, clear tones. And she proceeded to tell him why.

The fae's lids dropped and she looked at the wrapped package in her paw as she spoke. "You mean a lot to me, Alastor. Both you and Manea. You've been more of a father to me than my own and have shown me more love and affection in such a short time than Hattori has shown me in my entire life." The woman extended her paw, offering Alastor the wrapped gift. "This is for you. A token of my appreciation and love." Once he took the package, she placed her paw back down and waited for him to open it.

Within the package were several different sized combs, all made of glistening, gleaming ironwood. She had crafted each comb herself and had done so with the utmost care. Each was delicately inlaid with scrollwork at certain points, but the special thing about them was that Iki had made them wider than her own combs. Alastor's would be able to be grasped comfortably between his mighty jaws so that he could run the teeth of the comb through the long fur that they both shared. Alongside that was a small crock that was sealed with wax. Within was a special mixture that Iki had made that would detangle the giant's fur and make it soft. It was scented with woodsmoke and sea salt; a very manly fragrance. Once he looked at each piece, Iki waited to see what he thought of the gift.

"Speech"

Ikigai followed him, just as he expected she would, but then she deviated from his expectations by stopping him as he went to step past her and informing him that she was looking for him. She was here to see him? Alastor fixed Ikigai with a curiosity in his obsidian eyes, concern furrowing his brow for a split second as he quickly scanned her for any signs of injury, his mind's first thought snapping to Deimos having done something to her once again. When he didn't see any sign of wounds on her though, he relaxed and listened as she looked down at the wrapped bundle at her paws, explaining the reason she was here. Alastor's mind had a hard time comprehending and following as the alabaster and ink princess complimented him with words far kinder than he ever deserved. Ikigai was such a sweetheart, delicate as a cherry blossom and benevolent as a saint. The world was far too unworthy of wolves like her. She graced him with the exceptional title of being a father to her, more than her own sire had been. Alastor could only shake his head and glance away with a little chuckle, not really sure how to respond to her overly generous compliments. "You're much too sweet to an old monster like me, my dear," he replied with a touch of self-deprecating humor.

What came next took away all that nonchalant swagger in the ebony brute.

Ikigai extended the wrapped package over to him, a gift to show her appreciation and love to him. Alastor glanced down at the gift, then back up to the demure princess, inky black eyes meeting moonlight silver for a second before he took the package in one giant paw. He handled it with the same care that one might handle a priceless artifact with, looking it over, then unwrapping it with skillful cuts of razor sharp claws. Any words of protest he might have been considering died on his tongue the moment he gazed down upon the set of artisanal combs, all handcrafted from pristine ironwood and intricately carved and detailed. The size of them left no doubt that they had been personally designed for him to use on his fur, a trait that he and the Abraxas fae had bonded over. A pot of conditioner accompanied the combs; a perfect set of men's grooming tools. For a long while, Alastor just stared down at the gift, picking up each comb between large digits as he struggled to wrap his brain around what was happening. A pull in his chest gas rise to emotions Alastor seldom ever felt—appreciation, affection, guardianship. Love. These gifts were all crafted with the utmost love.

Alastor didn't know what to say. He didn't know what to do or how to react. The emotions tightening his chest made breathing difficult. Alastor had not received many gifts in his lifetime, and even fewer had been made with the degree of care and love that Ikigai's had been; only the cuff he wore as a gift from Manea when they'd gotten married rivaled it, and just like his wedding band, these had been made with the same consideration and devotion. The giant brute couldn't take his eyes off of them. He was transfixed by the emotional impact merely holding them hit him with. His fractured brain wrestled with his surging emotions, like a machine short-circuiting. And then the unimaginable happened. Crystalline tears formed on the edge's of the flame-marked brute's eyes, those overwhelming emotions welling up and spilling out over his lashes. He still couldn't speak, couldn't breathe, couldn't comprehend what he had done to deserve this kindness. He was a monster deep down, harboring the most abhorrent of demons inside his broken psyche. But Ikigai... sweet, gentle Ikigai... she didn't see any of that in him. She saw him as a father figure. And he saw her as a daughter.

Black lips pulling into a tight line to try and hide the quiver of his jaw, Alastor set the combs back down with absolute care and closed his eyes, turning his head to the side slightly in a vain attempt to mask how emotional he was becoming. "Ikigai... " Alastor's shoulders trembled as he fought to speak and to keep from getting choked up. "I don't deserve this kindness from you... These gifts, they're much too nice for a creature like me." Nobody deserved the kindhearted seraph that Okiku Abraxas was. She was too good for them all, a benevolent being sent from the heavens to grace their iniquitous world with her light. She didn't know the violent, sadistic animal he was or the atrocities he had gleefully committed in his lifetime. He was unworthy of her devotion, or of being considered a father by someone so fair.

"Alastor Mendacium"