Before she had a chance to set out to speak to the packs, a miraculous thing had happened. Iho had returned to her, even if his return had been a rocky thing. His ship was in ruins, his miracle cure lost - and he had discovered it had all been for naught anyway. She put off her travels to the other packs for a few days, knowing her mother would understand.

She wanted a chance to catch up with Iho, perhaps even convince him to travel with her. But there were a few formalities that needed to be sorted before then. Like getting him back into the pack, and setting up where he would be sleeping. For now, she had placed down a spare coat for him, but surely he wanted something a little more permanent?

She returned from her training session and stuck her head into her den. She had set up in Cryers Ravine, near the ocean because she enjoyed the sound of it. “Iho, you around?”


"Speech"

Getting reacquainted with the old familiar life he had known before his unintentional odyssey was a monumental task in of itself. Kumiho almost felt like a stranger coming back to Ashen, although being with Kitsune had made the process undeniably easier on him. The princess had set him up a temporary sleeping situation with her in her den so he could at least sleep somewhere besides outside. After that came the task of reacquainting himself with Boreas, with the wolves of Ashen, and seeing about rebuilding his raft... again.  Without it, he felt like a piece of himself was missing and he was veritably useless. That would have to come in time though.

Shortly after breakfast one morning, Iho was busying himself helping to tidy up Kitsune's den while she was out training while he replanned his new raft build. His princess' voice called for him from the entrance. "Yep, in here! Gimme a sec!" he called back to her, putting away whatever was in his paws before making his way outside into the cool winter day. He greeted the fiery princess with his usual debonair grin, smiling down at her. Much to her displeasure, she really hadn't grown much in his time away, where Iho stood well over half a foot taller than her. Sorry, little fire fox. He was still scruffy around his facial features, sporting the lupine equivalent of a sailor's beard from his travels. He quite liked it and thought it made him look rugged and swashbuckler-y, but if Kit wanted him to groom and be trimmed, he would probably acquiesce. "You rang, your majesty?"

"Kumiho"

She still struggled to believe that Iho was back. So much time had passed since they had been together last. She had done a lot of growing, too. Up (but not ‘up’) and she did little to hide her disgruntlement any time Iho needed to reach something for her. But the fact that he was there to reach things… a part of her was home.

She smiled at his familiar alpine features, and stepped into his space to greet him. She had never minded invading his personal space before, and was determined to treat it much the same now, even if she was more aware of him these days. His sea-salt scent caught at her sensors, and she felt her heartbeat pick up. “I did.” she said imperiously, and then grinned up (and up) at him cheekily. “What’s your plans for the day, Iho? Ready to see my mother?” They needed to finalise his place in the pack.


"Speech"

The smile that adorned the Ashen princess' face was one of the greatest and simplest joys Kumiho had in life. A man of simple means and desires, coming from a background of only what you could pull from the earth and the sea, he had grown up with a great emphasis on the joys of family and friendship. Seeing Kitsune happy was his favorite thing. Seeing her happy again was an almost painful reminder to him of what he had almost lost, and a constant reminder to never go venturing off like he had alone again. He wasn't just living for himself anymore where he could be as reckless as he wanted; he had someone else who cared deeply for his wellbeing. Thoughts of Kit sitting and waiting on the shore for him to come back would forever haunt him.

Kitsune wasted no time asserting her regal authority to breach his personal space, as she had often done in their time together. It had never bothered Iho before and that wouldn't start now. He gave her his trademark lopsided smile with his usual confident flair as she came up to him, sure he looked more like a roughhewn privateer than the amateur sailor who had washed up on her shores all those years ago. His blue eyes still sparkled with that liveliness for adventure as they always had, despite the addition of a couple extra scars on his chest and the broken end of his icy antler that had never fully grown back. Kitsune, however, had only grown more beautiful and comely in their time apart, fully completing her transformation into the stately and majestic princess she was born to be.

Kit asked about his plans for the day and if he was ready to go see her mother to regain his position in the pack. "Ah, well, I thought I might tidy up around here for a bit, then go for a jaunt around the active volcano to the east, maybe so pick a fight with the Raiders and start a war... Y'know, just casual everyday things." He flashed his teeth in a roguish grin. Of course he was going to tease her. "Nah, no real plans to speak of. I'm ready to go throw myself at the mercy of your mom. Although I would like to get started on rebuilding my raft at some point. I believe I still owe a debt of sailing lessons once the weather gets nicer." He shot a wink to his fiery fox of a princess.

"Kumiho"

Kitsune’s expression was serious, and she nodded along with him. “In that case, we’ll need to pack an umbrella for the volcano, and I'll need to bring my weapons before we head to the Raiders…” She told him, looking about herself as if to see if she had what they needed to set off… She grinned back at him, returning the roguish flash of his teeth with a more stately one.

“You still want to do that? I’d like that” She said, leaning her head against the plush fur of his chest. She knew she was the one who had mentioned talking to her mum, but leaning against Iho, she found she was reluctant to move away. She closed her eyes, leaning a little further into him. She knew she had her mother, her sister. But Iho was a different type of support entirely. She already felt less alone, with him there beside her.


"Speech"

A bark of laughter escaped Iho when Kitsune, ever the theatrical girl she was, remained as austere and committed to the bit as ever, even going so far as to suggest bringing weapons with them for Raider antagonization. Yep, that was the Kitty he knew! "Those Raiders won't even know what hit 'em!" His offer to take her sailing was met with surprise by her, and Kumiho looked surprised as he nodded. "Of course I do. You wanted to learn, and I want to sail again. Plus I'm a brute of my word, and I made you a promise. I also promise I won't wreck this one either. I think the penalty for dunking a princess in the ocean is torture or something, isn't it?" He snickered under his breath, suddenly finding himself wondering if Kitsune knew how to swim, just in case. The topic had never come up before.

Iho would have made a show of crossing his paw over his chest, but before he could there was a princess head leaning into the broad planes of his chest, her dark fur mixing with the snowy white of his own in an almost perfect contrast. Iho smiled and lifted a large paw to rest on Kit's back, hugging her close while she snuggled into his plush fur. Being back here with her, Iho felt whole once again. Yes, he loved his seafaring days voyaging across the ocean in search of new lands and questing to find a cure for Venom, but his heart had felt like a piece of it had been left behind in Boreas the day he'd sailed away. He and Kitsune had been through so much together, faced untold horrors during the Long Night, hell she'd practically grown up with him! She would always be someone special to him. "You will need to let me move if we're gonna go see your mother now though," he reminded her with a hint of teasing in his voice. Although if she wanted to stay here like this for a little bit longer too, he wouldn't be caught complaining...

"Kumiho"

“Well, they’ll have to if we intend to start a war” she said practically. Which perhaps should have sparked a decision on the diplomacy duties she had picked up. But she didn’t want to talk about going away. Not yet, not when she wasn’t sure if Iho would join her or not.

“Actually, I think it’s torture by kiss’s. With the punishment handed out by the victim” She said into his chest. She felt his paw rest on her back, bringing her closer to him. This was what she had been missing. She remembered when she was younger, worrying if Iho would vanish one day when her back was turned. His wanderlust was no secret, and from day one of rescuing him she had expected it to take him. Perhaps she hadn’t really expected him to come back after his search for medicine. “Right. Yes, it’s proper to talk to the Empress” She agreed, and reluctantly pulled away from him.


"Speech"

Kitsune corrected his assumptions, that the punishment for dunking her in the ocean would be torture by kisses, earning a hearty laugh and a big toothy grin from Kumiho. "Well now, that doesn't sound too awful," he teased her back, shooting a playful wink to the fire fox fae. The pair of wolves remained embraced for a little while longer, cuddled closer and just enjoying being in one another's presence again after far too much time apart. It was Iho's eventual reminder that she would need to let him go if she intended to take him to go see the Empress that finally broke them apart, although there was definitely reluctance between the two of them. The arctic wolf sat himself up straighter, clearing his throat as he tried to casually play off the moment. "I suppose I should probably look into getting my fur trimmed and groomed up sooner than later, huh?" he commented, looking down at his scruffy fur around his chest and face, definitely looking more rugged seafarer than the juvenile sailor he had been when he'd first washed up on Ashen's shores some time ago.

"Kumiho"

Kitsune let out a soft sigh, not too concerned with appearing dignified and controlled in front of Iho. He had seen her at her worst, and she had seen him at his worst. If she was to let her guard down around anyone, it was him. She snuggled into him, dotting kisses along his cheek - after all, she had to see out his punishment.

She snickered lightly at his comment on his appearance. She wasn’t going to say anything. “Come on, let's get you presentable” she agreed. It would be best to start off on the right paw with her mother after all. She grabbed some combs and oils from her belongings, and settled herself beside him again. This time to get to work on his coat.


"Speech"

As far as punishments went, this was probably the most pleasant he'd ever received! The seafaring wolf contented himself to sit there snuggling with his princess in the privacy of their shared den, quiet murrs and rumbles within his chest revealing his depth of enjoyment for her affections. Like a sailor out at sea, he had been without her loving for far too long and he was a little attention starved as a result, so he was quite enjoying himself right now. His remark about his scruffy appearance drew a snicker from the smaller fae, but no comment—probably for the best. Kit began moving about gathering up her personal grooming supplies to prepare to be his personal stylist while Iho lowered himself down to his belly so she could better reach all of him. With them both at their adult heights now, the size difference between them was (much to his beloved's chagrin) much more... noticeable.

As she got settled in beside him to begin the process of making him less disheveled, Kumiho took note of her supplies and how she meticulously went about her process. Kitsune had truly become a woman grown and it showed in even the smallest details of her daily rituals. It was hard to look at her now and picture the small pup that had found him washed up on Ashen's beach years ago, or the girl that had huddled away with him in his hollowed out tree during the terrors of the Long Night. Beside him lay a beautiful and mature princess. A beautiful and mature princess in heat, but he wasn't going to dwell on that thought for too long. "Well, best get started. You've got your work cut out for you if you wanna make me handsome, Kitty," he teased her with his usual roguish grin, a mischievous flash in his eyes.

"Kumiho"

Iho lowered himself down to the dens floor, giving her room to work. She worked slowly and carefully through his coat. Brushing him, applying oils to any parts that couldn’t immediately be brushed, and trimming anything that was too split or messy to be dealt with in any other way.

“Kitty!” she reported indignantly, glaring over at the white wolf at her paws. She was tempted to bite him, but a Princess wasn’t petty. Well, at least not in public. Here, in the privacy of her den, there would be no witnesses. No one to believe him. She reached over and nipped at his ear, tugging on it for good measure. “I don’t think even I can work miracles like that” she told him primly, before relenting with a grin. “I can’t make you what you already are” she added, releasing his ear and smoothing it down with a paw. She took a break from brushing him to rest her head against the back of his neck. He smelled like home now. Like her den, and oils, with hints of seasalt and wild mint. He smelled good.


"Speech"

Iho contented himself with relaxing into Kitsune’s ministrations, quite enjoying the grooming process she was giving him. It felt like receiving a personal spa day. Bit by bit, his scruffy fur was cut away, his coat neatened and shaped up in the princess’ perfect image. It was a kind of treatment he wasn’t used to, but one he was greatly and thoroughly enjoying! His little pet name for her earned exactly the amount of indignation he had hoped for, and with a cheeky grin on his face, he bore the brunt of her playful nipping at his ear. "Oh no, I’m being attacked by an assassin! Put on my tombstone, ‘He was slain by Princess Kitty’!" he laughed while she tugged on his ear, unable to resist teasing her further.

As she shaved his scruff and cleaned him up, Kitsune remarked on how she didn’t think she could work miracles on him. Iho gave a barking laugh at that comment, but his mirth was quickly replaced by surprise when Kit amended her statement that she couldn’t change what he already was. Iho smiled at her sweetness, relaxing back into the grooming session she was lavishing him with—or he was, until he felt Kit rest her head on the back of his neck, lingering there with her snout in his fur and her body pressed up lightly to his. Her breath tickled the back of his nape, sending pleasant shivers down his back. In such close proximity, the scent of her heat was intoxicating, and already the brute could feel himself getting drunk on her pheromones.

Kumiho smiled, enjoying this moment of intimate privacy between him and his Ashen princess. He swallowed thickly, finding it harder and harder to keep his mind chaste amidst flaring hormones and intense emotions of longing. He’d been gone for far, far too long. Now his small puppy princess had grown up into a beautiful young fae. "You’re gonna keep us in this den all day at this rate, Kit," he teased her again, shooting her a sly look with a knowing smirk, one brow raising in an unspoken question. Was she trying to initiate things further with him?

"Kumiho"

“He inevitably fell to the powerful paws of Kitsune Tachi Oritsu Abraxas, First of her name.” she drew her paws out as if brushing it across a stone surface. “You're going to need a pretty big tombstone.” she said with a hard done by sigh, as if his death would be an inconvenience to her. She let her chin flop back down onto his back with a sigh, her cheeky grin hidden by her vantage point over him. She had missed him. She had missed him SO MUCH that it still hurt to think about it. 


She didn't want to let him go, didn't want to let up and walk out of this den. Even for something so simple and necessary as speaking to her mother. She wanted to selfishly keep him all to herself. At his words, she brushed her teeth against the base of his ear. Now, there was a thought. Maybe she would keep him locked away here. “It is my right as a Royal Princess to keep a prisoner” She said thoughtfully. She had no idea if that was true or not, but it sounded fun.

Kitsune expectedly recited a much more formal epitaph to adorn his gravestone with, including her ludicrously long name that, despite his best attempts, he still stumbled over when he tried to say aloud. Kumiho chuckled and rolled his eyes, then feigned a shocked and insulted gasp when she mentioned needing a bigger tombstone. "Am I not worth it? I would expect a whole monument dedicated to me for sailing the seven seas for you—nay, I demand a whole island named after me!" Was he being dramatic? Yes, absolutely. Was he doing it in hopes of getting a giggle and a smile from his sweet fire fox? Also yes.

Iho had been expecting some sort of playful retort from the princess when he teased her about keeping him squirreled away in their den all day, but instead he got something that caught him by surprise. The soft graze of Kitsune's teeth against the edge of his ear coaxed a soft breathy gasp from the brute, his whole body tensing as a delightful shiver rippled down his spine. It was her right to keep him prisoner, was it? That sounded pretty kinky. But rather than say that out loud and fluster the fiery princess, Kumiho instead turned his head and gave her an inviting grin. Oh, she wanted to play, did she? Well, Iho was more than up for this sort of game... "Oh yeah? And what are you gonna do with your prisoner, Kitsune Tachi Oritsu Abraxas?" He was challenging her, testing her to see how far she'd play this game. Was this all talk and playful flirting? Or were there more lascivious thoughts behind those pretty blue eyes?

"Kumiho"

She crinkled her nose at him and smiled “the island I'd name after you wouldn't fit your tombstone” She said apologetically, spreading out her two front paws a short distance. A little mound of sand in the ocean could be considered an island, couldn't it? 


Iho twisted around to look at her, and she reached over and pinched his nose with her teeth, grinning at him in delight. Feeling warmth and delight built up in her chest. He was back, he was here in arms reach of her. Less, really. She wasn't going to let go of him easily. He might have suggested staying in her den as a joke, but she was seriously considering it. 


“What am I going to do?” She repeated back thoughtfully. “Whatever. I. Want.” She was a Princess after all. The haughtiness had to come in somewhere. She wiggled slightly off his back, moving in front of him. She moved down one paw, landing it over his and pressing down. Then she moved the other, ‘trapping’ his paws beneath her own. He was much larger than her of course, so trapping only worked for as long as he allowed it.

Kumiho felt Kitsune slide off of his back, the brushing of their coats leaving more of those pleasant little tingles across his skin as they parted. Icy blue eyes shifted to watch as the svelte fae sauntered her way around to his front and settled down before him, placing her forepaws on top of his own and pressing down to keep him pinned—or trying to keep him pinned in place, at least. With the difference in their sizes, Iho probably could’ve freed himself if he really wanted to. But where was the fun in that? No, Iho had a much more nefarious idea in mind.

Kitsune declared that she was going to do whatever she wanted with him, leaving that ambiguous threat up in the air. Kumiho simply held Kit’s gaze with his own, their mutual blue jeweled eyes smoldering between them, and gave her a lopsided grin, roguish and playful in nature. He responded to her assertion of dominance by quickly leaning forward and capturing her lips with his own in a quick kiss, just a peck to the end of her snout, but enough that it turned those butterflies in his belly into full blown fireworks. Hey, if she wasn’t going to take the initiative, then he was going to be daring for the both of them. After letting his lips linger on hers for a second, Iho pulled back enough to grin at his fire fox, curious to see how she would react and respond to his boldness.

"Kumiho"

She took a little stuttered breath in surprise, before letting her eyes flutter close and leaning into the kiss. Feeling the warmth of his breath, the heat of his skin against hers. The way the fine hairs of his muzzle tickled against her. Intoxicating. When he pulled back she gave a few butterfly-quick breaths, her eyes sparkling. She released one of his paws, raising her own so she could cup it against the side of his muzzle… and then swiftly changed angle at the last moment to bop him on the nose. “I'M in charge here” She reminded him. But her voice was rich with laughter… and heat. His little move has certainly reminded her that it was her season. She couldn't deny the warmth building inside of her.


She lowered her lashes and looked up at him, wondering how long it would take for him to break the rules again. Her smile was a little bit wicked, but partly hidden by the angle of her face. She moved that paw again and brushed it lightly down the side of his face. She wasn't very well practised at teasing, and she found herself suddenly wishing she had a little more experience.

Kumiho hadn't known how Kitsune might respond to his advances, but the surprise that painted her face was everything that he had hoped it would be. He grinned at her, a cheeky little flash of teeth at the way her breath stuttered when his lips parted from hers. His eyes shone with a mischievous glint as the two wolves held one another's gazes in close proximity, the touch of her paw on his cheek making his head lead subconsciously into her paw. Her touch felt so nice and delicate on his cheek—which is why it came as an even greater surprise to feel the sudden bop on the end of his snoot. The sudden love tap caused Iho to blink in surprise and wrinkle up his nose at the strange sensation it left behind.

Kitsune brusquely reminded him that she was the one in charge here as the princess, her sweet voice hinted with notes of giggles and something more. Iho shot her a lopsided smirk and chuckled under his breath, eyes smoldering with a daring look in them. "Then show me what a princess in charge acts like, Kitty," he challenged her with a playful laugh in his rich voice. Because if she wasn't going to take charge, then he was definitely ready and willing to break her rules again. But he also wanted to give Kitsune the chance to explore with him. Neither of them had any experience with anything romantic or sexual, so they'd be learning together at their own pace. That was part of the fun of growing up with your lover; you got to experience all of their firsts with them. His heart hammered in his chest as the scruffy arctic wolf watched his fire fox with eager excitement, letting her take the lead for the both of them.

"Kumiho"